1. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 MACRO TOPICS (14.456) Nick Bloom Overview

2. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 COURSE OVERVIEW There are four things I can teach: Content – i.e. papers, chapters from textbooks Techniques – i.e. estimators, dynamic programming Skills – i.e. presentations, writing papers etc Ideas – i.e. feedback on your research I want to focus much more on the last two as these are much harder to self-teach – this will make this non-standard as a graduate course But this is flexible, so feedback is very useful

3. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 DRAFT SCHEDULE (1/4) Classes cover topics in two parts: First half – 1 core paper which we all read in advance. One person (nominated in advance) presents. Everyone else prepares a 5 slide discussion, focusing on: Good stuff – what the paper did well Bad stuff – what the paper didn’t do well Extensions – what you could do extending this Second half – I will summarize about 3 more related papers. You don’t need to read any of these in advance So you only have to read 1 paper in advance – but please read this in detail so we can discuss and deconstruct this

4. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 DRAFT SCHEDULE (2/4) To pass the class you have to: (A) Present one paper in the term (to be allocated shortly) (B) Every class have a 5-slide discussion prepared for the class-paper - Good stuff – what the paper did well - Bad stuff – what the paper didn’t do well - Extensions – what you could do extending this (C) Turn up, keep awake, and ask the occasional question

5. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 DATES SCHEDULE (3/4) Individual Session Dates: Tuesday 4 th November and 4 th December – no class Thursday 13 th November – Presentations & job market Tuesday 25 th November– “tips & trick” Finally, I will pay for a class dinner. We should do this about midway – nearer the time I’ll ask Jean-Paul to coordinate

6. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 DATES SCHEDULE (4/4) Individual Topics to Cover Include Reallocation Adjustment costs and uncertainty Micro to macro – partial equilibrium Micro to macro – general equilibrium Great moderation Volatility & Growth Uncertainty IT and productivity Innovation Skill biased technical change Aggregation, volatility and uncertainty Technology Census data

7. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 OTHER ISSUES Office hours – just e-mail/ask me, I’m happy to meet up Slides – I’ll put all these up on my website after the lecture Breaks – we’ll have a 5 minute coffee break at about 1:45

8. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 1: Adjustment Costs and Real Options Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Investment and Employment Dynamics in the Short-Run and the Long-Run”, Avinash Dixit, OEP (1997)

9. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 2: Aggregation in Partial Equilibrium Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Irreversibility and Aggregate Investment”, Giuseppe Bertola and Ricardo Caballero, RESTUD (1994)

10. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 3: Aggregation in General Equilibrium Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Idiosyncratic shocks and the role of nonconvexities in plant and aggregate investment dynamics”, Aubhik Kahn and Julia Thomas, Econometrica (2008)

11. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 4: The Great Moderation Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Has the business cycle changed and why?” Stock and Watson (2002, NBER Macro Annual)

12. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 5: Volatility and Growth Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Volatility and Development” Koren and Tenreyro (2006, QJE)

13. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 6: Uncertainty Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Impact of uncertainty shocks” Bloom (2008, CE Econometrica)

14. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 7: Innovation Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “A Model of Growth Through Creative Destruction”, Aghion and Tirole (Econometrica, 1992)

15. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 8: IT and Productivity Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Modeling the Transition to a New Economy: Lessons from Two Technological Revolutions”, Atkeson and Kehoe (AER, 2008)

16. Nick Bloom, Macro Topics, Fall 2008 Session 9: Skill Biased Technical Change Student presents (volunteer): (30 minutes) “Trends in US Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists”, Autor, Katz and Kearney (2008, RESTAT) Additional paper: “Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market”, Acemoglu (2002, JEL)